In the middle of her speech at Andicom, the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Carmen Ligia Valderrama, noted that for the remainder of the government of President Iván Duque, the 5G auction, that was planned for the end of this 2021.
According to the official, an initiative of this type could take between a year or a year and a half, which would not be ready for the remainder of this administration. Nevertheless, The ICT Ministry will continue working to continue training and connecting more Colombians.
(See: ‘We are ready to be protagonists in the deployment of 5G’).
“A tender can take between a year and a year and a half, which is getting out of hand at the moment. But from the Ministry we continue to support Colombians and companies in terms of connectivity”Said the head of the ICT portfolio.
Valderrama also indicated that they hope to leave the starting points for Colombia to reach the fifth generation (5G) connections later.
“In the world there is talk of 5G and for us it is not a long-term project, but a reality. I had the opportunity to meet with several executives from the sector and the world is already talking about 6G. Although Colombia has a long way to go, we are not far from this goal”Added the head of the ICT portfolio.
(See: 5G and Edge for Movistar companies with IBM).
On the other hand, the MinTIC also referred to the controversial award of the project of Digital Centers that the Unión Temporal Poblados Centers had initially been won, a company that was involved in a scandal.
The official explained that she hopes to know a full analysis before making a decision and that the opening of a new tender is one of the alternatives.
“The country needs a serious response and a serious response is not a quick response, it is one that is indicating what to do technically, financially and legally, and until I have the data, exactly, what to do. on those three fronts I will not take the step”, He expressed.
Valderrama indicated that Temporary Union ETB NET, that was second in the bidding process, has the option of being the chosen operator, but specified that it is not a decision taken.
(See: To introduce 5G in Colombia, one of Motorola’s objectives).
“I have spoken with the ETB as I have spoken with all the operators, this is an open-door ministry. (…) It would be wrong to say that with them we have to go the a side, boc, no idea, because until you have the complete analysis with all the fronts you do not have a decision”, Specified the MinTIC.
Regarding the expected connectivity in the most remote regions of the country, Valderrama affirmed that this is not the only project underway and that the National Government has been advancing, to bring connectivity to the entire national territory.
PRONUNCIATION OF ETB
In his pronouncement in Andicom, ETB stated that it always had the best grades and that they never had to amend a single document, “We bid for zone B and put a volume of additional sites that the Government was proposing as a minimum, of course we presented the guarantees and all the corresponding documents, finally we were second and we all know what happened with those that were first”.
BRIEFCASE
